Table of Contents

Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) [1984 Panel] (ICPSR 8317)

Principal Investigator(s):United States Department of Commerce. Bureau of the Census

Summary:

This longitudinal survey was designed to add significantly
to the amount of detailed information available on the economic
situation of households and persons in the United States. These data
examine the level of economic well-being of the population and also
provide information on how economic situations relate to the
demographic and social characteristics of individuals. There are three
basic elements contained in the survey. The first is a control card
that records basic social and dem... (more info)

This longitudinal survey was designed to add significantly
to the amount of detailed information available on the economic
situation of households and persons in the United States. These data
examine the level of economic well-being of the population and also
provide information on how economic situations relate to the
demographic and social characteristics of individuals. There are three
basic elements contained in the survey. The first is a control card
that records basic social and demographic characteristics for each
person in a household, as well as changes in such characteristics over
the course of the interviewing period. The second element is the core
portion of the questionnaire, with questions repeated at each
interview on labor force activity, types and amounts of income,
participation in various cash and noncash benefit programs, attendance
in postsecondary schools, private health insurance coverage, public or
subsidized rental housing, low-income energy assistance, and school
breakfast and lunch participation. The third element consists of
topical modules which are series of supplemental questions asked
during selected household visits. No topical modules were created for
the first or second waves. The Wave III Rectangular Core and Topical
Module File offers both the core data and additional data on (1)
education and work history and (2) health and disability. In the areas
of education and work history, data are supplied on the highest level
of schooling attained, courses or programs studied in high school and
after high school, whether the respondent received job training, and
if so, for how long and under what program (e.g., CETA or WIN). Other
items pertain to the respondent's general job history and include a
description of selected previous jobs, duration of jobs, and reasons
for periods spent not working. Health and disability variables present
information on the general condition of the respondent's health,
functional limitations, work disability, and the need for personal
assistance. Data are also provided on hospital stays or periods of
illness, health facilities used, and whether health insurance plans
(private or Medicare) were available. Respondents whose children had
physical, mental, or emotional problems were questioned about the
causes of the problems and whether the children attended regular
schools. The Wave IV Rectangular Core and Topical Module file contains
both the core data and sets of questions exploring the subjects of (1)
assets and liabilities, (2) retirement and pension coverage, and (3)
housing costs, conditions, and energy usage. Some of the major assets
for which data are provided are savings accounts, stocks, mutual
funds, bonds, Keogh and IRA accounts, home equity, life insurance,
rental property, and motor vehicles. Data on unsecured liabilities
such as loans, credit cards, and medical bills also are
included. Retirement and pension information covers such items as when
respondents expect to stop working, whether they will receive
retirement benefits, whether their employers have retirement plans, if
so whether they are eligible, and how much they expect to receive per
year from these plans. In the category of housing costs, conditions,
and energy usage, variables pertain to mortgage payments, real estate
taxes, fire insurance, principal owed, when the mortgage was obtained,
interest rates, rent, type of fuel used, heating facilities,
appliances, and vehicles. The Wave V topical modules explore the
subject areas of (1) child care, (2) welfare history and child
support, (3) reasons for not working/reservation wage, and (4) support
for nonhousehold members/work-related expenses. Data on child care
include items on child care arrangements such as who provides the
care, the number of hours of care per week, where the care is
provided, and the cost. Questions in the areas of welfare history and
child support focus on receipt of aid from specific welfare programs
and child support agreements and their fulfillment. The reasons for
not working/reservation wage module presents data on why persons are
not in the labor force and the conditions under which they might join
the labor force. Additional variables cover job search activities, pay
rate required, and reason for refusal of a job offer. The set of
questions dealing with nonhousehold members/work-related expenses
contains items on regular support payments for nonhousehold members
and expenses associated with a job such as union dues, licenses,
permits, special tools, uniforms, or travel expenses. Information is
supplied in the Wave VII Topical Module file on (1) assets and
liabilities, (2) pension plan coverage, and (3) real estate property
and vehicles. Variables pertaining to assets and liabilities are
similar to those contained in the topical module for Wave IV. Pension
plan coverage items include whether the respondent will receive
retirement benefits, whether the employer offers a retirement plan and
if the respondent is included in the plan, and contributions by the
employer and the employee to the plan. Real estate property and
vehicles data include information on mortgages held, amount of
principal still owed and current interest rate on mortgages, rental
and vacation properties owned, and various items pertaining to
vehicles belonging to the household. Wave VIII Topical Module includes
questions on support for nonhousehold members, work-related expenses,
marital history, migration history, fertility history, and household
relationships. Support for nonhousehold members includes data for
children and adults not in the household. Weekly and annual
work-related expenses are documented. Widowhood, divorce, separation,
and marriage dates are part of the marital history. Birth expectations
as well as dates of birth for all the householder's children, in the
household or elsewhere, are recorded in the fertility
history. Migration history data supplies information on birth history
of the householder's parents, number of times moved, and moving
expenses. Household relationships lists the exact relationships among
persons living in the household. Part 49, Wave IX Rectangular Core and
Topical Module Research File, includes data on annual income,
retirement accounts, taxes, school enrollment, and financing. This
topical module research file has not been edited nor imputed, but has
been topcoded or bottomcoded and recoded if necessary by the Census
Bureau to avoid disclosure of individual respondents' identities.

Study Description

Citation

United States Department of Commerce. Bureau of the Census. Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) [1984 Panel]. ICPSR08317-v2. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2002-09-03. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR08317.v2

Universe:
Resident population of the United States, excluding
persons living in institutions and military barracks.

Data Types:
survey data

Data Collection Notes:

[1] The Census Bureau has released each SIPP data file
in two formats: a standard "rectangular" file with the individual as
the unit of analysis, and a "relational" or modified hierarchical
file in which the unit of analysis can be any of eight record types
included in the file. The record types are (1) sample unit (in Wave I,
this consisted of all persons living at a sampled address), (2)
household, (3) family, (4) person, (5) wage and salary job, (6)
self-employed job, (7) general income amounts 1, and (8) general
income amounts 2. Within each sampling unit, records are sequenced by
type, i.e., they are not strictly hierarchical. Pointers (record
numbers or indices) on each record link it to records at the next
higher and/or lower levels as appropriate. Some of the record types
are padded with blanks so that all types within a file have the same
logical record length. The 1984 Panel Annual Weights file provides the
appropriate identification match fields for all respondents in Waves
II-V of the 1984 panel as well as two longitudinal weights. One weight
is controlled to the December 1983 population estimates of the Current
Population Survey. The second is controlled to the March 1985
population estimates of the Current Population Survey. Frequencies for
each of the nine waves of the 1984 Panel are available in individual
frequency files. [2] The codebooks are provided by ICPSR as Portable
Document Format (PDF) files. The PDF file format was developed by
Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF reader
software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how to
obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided on the ICPSR Web
site.

Methodology

Sample:
The survey used a multistage stratified sampling
design. Approximately 26,000 housing units were initially selected,
and about 21,000 of these were occupied and eligible for
interview. One-fourth of these households were interviewed each month,
and households were re-interviewed at four-month intervals. All
persons at least 15 years old who were present as household members at
the time of the first interview are included for the entire study,
except those moving to Alaska, outside the United States, or into
military barracks.

Data Source:

personal interviews

Version(s)

Original ICPSR Release:1985-05-30

Version History:

2002-09-03 Part 49, Wave IX Rectangular Core and Topical
Module Research File, has been added to this collection along with a
PDF codebook. This research file has not been edited nor imputed, but
has been topcoded or bottomcoded and recoded if necessary by the
Census Bureau to avoid disclosure of individual respondents'
identities. Data in the file covers annual income, retirement
accounts, taxes, school enrollment, and financing. Codebooks for other
data files in the collection have been converted to PDF as well.